Shadows
by Aelan Greenleaf
Summary: The Second War has come. The last beacon of hope for the Order has disappeared, and all seems lost. But amidst the deaths and the chaos, a child is born that has the strentgh to save all, if it is given a chance... Chapter 2 up
1. Introduction

This would be the darkest night of the year, it seemed. Pale moonlight barely penetrated the shadow that hung like fog over the forest, and what little light got through struggled to make it to the forest floor. Silence ruled as well, only increasing the menacing aura of the trees and plants.

However, the quiet was soon broken by a relatively loud crash and the mutterings of several curses.

"Quiet, ya fool. You've probably awoken the whole damned forest, you idiot. Ah, stop your moaning, you're fine."

A second voice penetrated the darkness. "Am not! Damn log tripped me, I sw-" His voice was cut off when his companion roughly yanked the man to his feet, followed by a yelp of pain.

"Now, c'mon. He's waitin'." said the first voice once more.

Grudgingly, the other man followed. The first man lead them through the still forest, his companion looking around nervously as they travelled.

Finally, they reached a break in the trees, and they stepped out into the dim moonlight. Now, with the added light, it was seen that they both wore dark, almost black cloaks, with hoods pulled over their heads to disguise them. Unfortunately, it did not work to its full purpose for the second man, whose long nose extended the length of the hood and stuck out into the moonlight.

The long-nosed man looked up to the moon and squinted. His eyes hurt from the dark of the forest and of the near-darkness of the clearing. Pulling out what seemed to be a long stick with what seemed to be a hair sticking out with it. Lifting it up into the night air, he muttered:

"_Lumos_."

The stick lit up immediately, soothing the man's eyes, as he gave a sigh of contented relief. His companion, however, immediately swivelled around with a look of horror upon his face.

"Put that out!" he hissed, coming over and grabbing his companion's shoulder. "Honestly, Xavier, sometimes I think you haven't an ounce of intelligence in your body. Do you _want_ the Aurors to capture us? Hmm?"

Xavier looked so horrified at the prospect that he nearly dropped his wand. "Don't say that, Damien! _They _can hear you!"

"Rubbish." Damien muttered. "But they _will_ find us with you waving around your idiot wand!"

Xavier hurriedly put it away into the sac by his side. "What are we to do now, Damien?"

The first man was silent for a moment, then turned to his companion. "Don't quite know, Xav. I reckon that He'll want us to go and-"

His voice broke off. Damien turned to the forest, while his partner shivered with fear on his log. "What is it, Damien?" Xavier whispered, his voice quavering with fear.

Damien stood very still a moment, his hooded face still turned to the forest they had just passed through. After a long moment, his posture relaxed and he turned back to Xavier.

"Though I heard something. Must have just-" 

His line of speech was cut off once more, but this time for an entirely different reason. Three figures had burst out of the trees, running towards Xavier and Damien. One, the closest to the two, had yelled out:

"Stupefy!"

Damien had been caught in mid sentence, mouth still open and hand in mid-air. His frozen body dropped to the ground, still stuck in that ridiculous pose.

Xavier leapt off of his log, stumbling to reach for his wand. "Cru-Cru-" he stuttered.

Too late.

Another one of the three figures lifted their wand and pointed straight at the startled man. "Stupefy!"

The bolt of red light hit Xavier right smack dab in the chest, effectively knocking the man to the ground, stuck in his ridiculous pose of reaching for his wand and his mouth half opened.

The three persons cautiously came forwards, just in case there was a hidden third companion, but there was none. Two of them stepped forwards, and yanked the hoods off of the two Stupefied men.

"Harold Xavier and Marcus Damien." one spoke with disgust. "Should have known."

At the sound of their names, the men began to stir. Marcus Damien was first to open his eyes, and when he did, he recoiled with fright.

"No."

"Oh, yes." remarked one of his capturers. For Marcus Damien was looking in the eyes of Remus Lupin, Nymphadora Tonks and Alastor 'Mad-Eye' Moody.

"Up you come, then." said Lupin, roughly yanking the man up. He pushed up the man's sleeve, to find just what he had been expecting. Burning black upon his left forearm was the mark of Voldemort, the mark of the Dark Lord.

"Ah. Exactly what I expected. Marcus Damien, you are charged with conspiracy against the Wizarding World, and sentenced to life in prison. Do enjoy your stay there." stated Lupin with a cold smile upon his face.

Shackles appeared onto Damien's wrists, and onto the still waking Xavier's. Mad-Eye yanked the trembling Death Eater to his feet, grabbed Xavier's shackles, and Disapparated. Tonks followed with Damien, and then Lupin.

The trio Apparated into a dark chamber, along with their two prisoners. Cells lined the walls around them, apparent only by the single door that distinguished one from the other. Tonks and Mad-Eye shoved the two men into separate cells, even as the two Death Eaters struggled against them.

"You'll pay!" screamed Damien right before he was shoved into his cell. "He'll get you!"

"I'm so sure." mumbled Lupin, sealing the two cells with magic. He then turned, nodded to Tonks and Mad-Eye, who, along with wizards Elphias Doge, Dedalus Diggle and witch Emmeline Vance, took up guard of the prison. Lupin headed towards the door, as no one could disapparate out of the prison. 

"Pumpkin Pie." he whispered to the door, which then immediately opened. He strode past several other wizards and witches, who were also guarding the prison. Lupin encountered many more doors along the way, and muttered many more passwords before finally reaching the exit.

He stepped out and watched as the portal he had such through shrunk in onto itself, much like the Black house.

Remus Lupin walked the streets for awhile, before finally decided that he had not been followed. Stepping into a nearby telephone booth, which was out of habit, really, more than a precaution, seeing as it was the middle of the night, he Disapparated out of there.

He found himself in front of The Burrow, exactly where he had wanted to end up. He rang the doorbell once. He stood there for what seemed an eternity. He was about to press the doorbell again when a red and teary eyed Molly Weasley answered the door.

"Oh, thanks goodness it's you, Lupin!" she breathed, voice cracking under her sorrow. "We...We-" Tears sprang to her eyes once more and she was no longer able to speak. Concerned and worried, he drew an arm around the crying woman, who was so often a pillar to her family. 

"Come now, Molly, we'll go inside and we can..." he voice broke off when he entered the home. The Weasley's home was always disorganised and messy, but it was nothing compared to this...

Broken furniture was strewn about the room, paintings and books littering the ground. Upon the only upright couch sat a shell-shocked Ronald Weasley, a sobbing Hermione Granger and an unconscious Ginny Weasley.

"What-what happened?" stuttered Lupin. "And where's Harry?"

At that, Molly Weasley burst into full-fledged tears and leaned shakily against a nearby wall. Ron, still looking blankly ahead, uttered something under his breath.

"What, Ron?" asked Lupin.

Louder this time, Ron whispered the same words again. "_They_ took him."

"Who's they?!" exclaimed Lupin, frustration and worry making his tone harsher than he had expected.

Ron turned his eyes to him, and with horror, Lupin realized that Ron was not shell-shocked, as he had previously thought; no, the reason why Ron had been staring forwards so readily was that he was blind. The young man's sightless white eyes bored into Lupin's, chilling him to the bone.

"The Shadows..."

And with that, Molly Weasley let out an agonizing scream of pain, followed closely by Hermione's own cry of defeat, as Remus Lupin fell to the floor onto his knees, and wondered what had gone wrong...

*Next chapter to follow. Inform me if you like it, as it definitely speeds up my rate of writing

~Aelan* 

P.S: Any mistakes? Please tell me if you see any!


	2. Chapter 1

Lupin pulled himself off of the ground after a few moments, knowing that he had to find out what had happened here and if everyone was alright. 

Molly Weasley had collapsed to the ground beside him, still crying, so he knelt down beside her and took her into his embrace.

"What happened, Molly? Who are the shadows?" he asked gently, still holding her shaking frame against him.

In an extraordinary feat of self-control, the crying woman ceased her tears and spoke in a clear, and only slightly quavering voice. "They came from nowhere." she started, separating herself from Lupin's arms and wiping away the trails of tears with her sleeve, "We had no idea what was happening. I was in the kitchen when they burst in, and they hit me with the Stupefying curse. Ginny, who was helping me, hit one of them with the same, but soon, she dropped down to the floor beside me.

"I couldn't really see anything else, but after the spell wore off, I stood up only to see them leave, with Harry slumped over one of their shoulders'." Lupin could see the tears threatening to well up again in the older woman's eyes, and he quickly touched her arm reassuringly.

"Thanks, Molly. I'm going to get Arthur and Dumbledore over here, okay?" 

She nodded back at him, then stood up to go and check on her children and Hermione. Lupin headed over to the Pidwidgeon's cage, and hastily scribbled a message out on a piece of parchment.

"Take this to Dumbledore, alright?" he told the owl as he attached the note to its foot, "And hurry!"

The owl's eyes seemed to flash a message of understanding, as it hopped over to the window and flew out into the now-lightening sky.

Lupin watched as it shrunk to a dot on the horizon, then disappeared totally. He turned around, and headed back to the living room to check on the others.

Mrs. Weasley was bent over Ginny, who had awaken since Lupin had left the room. The young woman' eyes seemed hazy and disorientated, but otherwise than that, she looked fine. Hermione had seemingly recovered from her fit of tears, and was now performing a spell on Ron's eyes.

She let out a sigh of frustration. "I'm sorry, Ron. This is something for the healers at St. Mungo's. They must have used a really advanced spell on you, or something."

"That's okay, 'Mione." said the unseeing young man, looking straight forwards at the wall, "I'm sure they can fix it." His hand reached out for hers, but it groped around in the air. Hermione hastily put hers out, and with moisture glittering in her eyes once more, gave her friend's hand a squeeze of comfort.

Uncomfortable to break the moment, but needing to to check on Hermione, he cleared his throat abruptly. "Are you alright?" he asked the young witch, who then gave Ron's hand one final squeeze and turned to Lupin.

"Yes, I think so." she replied, quickly looking down at her arms and legs, making sure that they were still there. "My head hurts a bit, though. I must have hit on the bookshelf when I fell," gesturing to the broken piece of furniture in the corner of the room.

Looking over at it, Lupin noticed a small puddle of red on its far corner. Immediately concerned, he told Hermione to turn her head so that he could take a look.

He pushed her long hair aside to find a deep gash about three centimetres long ran down from the top of her head. He told her to stand, and led her over to the kitchen, where he found a cloth and wet it, instructing her to keep it pressed up to the wound.

"Yours'll have to wait for St. Mungo's too, unless Molly knows how to heal it. I've never been good with the medical stuff." he remarked.

Finally, Lupin turned to Ron. "How are you, Ron?" he asked him softly, kneeling down beside the young man.

"Fine, I guess, except for the fact that I can't see a bloody thing." Ron replied bitterly.

Lupin opened his mouth to respond, but it was at that very moment that Arthur Weasley and Albus Dumbledore Apparated into the room.

"Oh, Arthur!" cried Mrs. Weasley, running forwards and hugging her husband. He held her in his arms, while she cried into his shoulder.

Dumbledore strode over to Lupin, then surveyed the scene with a cautious eye. "How are they?" the tall wizard asked softly, gesturing over to Hermione, Ron and Ginny.

"Fine, I suppose." answered Lupin. "Ginny was knocked out, but seems to be fine now; Hermione hit her head on the bookshelf and needs minor medical attention; and Ron..." Lupin's voice broke off as he looked over to the young man, still looking forwards at nothing.

"Is blind." finished Dumbledore softly.

Lupin nodded.

The former Headmaster of Hogwarts looked pensive a moment, then turned back to Lupin. "Well, first we need to get these three to St. Mungo's. Can you take them, Remus?"

"Sure." Lupin replied, heading over to the three young adults. "And then what?"

"There will be an emergency meeting of the Order to discuss what or next step will be." stated Dumbledore, looking over at the front door. "I fear that this War had suddenly become much more complicated than we thought."

Lupin looked over with curiosity at the older wizard, who was now staring almost dreamily out the front door, as if he could see something that Lupin could not.

Shaking himself out of it, the younger wizard turned to Hermione, and asked if she could Apparate into the hospital by herself.

"Of course." she responded, and then proved her point by promptly disappeared before his eyes. Ginny followed next, and finally, Ron and Lupin.

The hospital, these days, seemed to be overflowing with casualties of the War. The reception area, which had always been busy, was now just a huge crowd of people, injured and healthy alike, all rushing to get somewhere.

Admittance was now on the floor that your injuries applied to. There was too great of an influx of patients to admit them all downstairs. Lupin quickly herded himself and the trio into the crowded elevator, and pressed the button for the fourth floor.

"Fourth Floor: Spell Damage." stated the calm elevator voice, as Lupin, Hermione, Ginny and Ron tried to get out of the crowd. They barely managed to step out before the doors snapped shut behind them.

The fourth floor was a mess. This is were most of the injured of the War ended up, as this is was a Wizarding War. All round them stood people with disfigured bodies, missing limbs and more unidentifiable injuries.

Lupin instructed his charges to stay put, as he shoved through yet another crowd to get to the reception desk. A single receptionist was there, as every other available employee was out helping with the injured. This was how St. Mungo's was every day, and every night since the Second War had started.

"Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger." he uttered breathlessly when the receptionist asked him the injured's names.

"Symptoms? she asked again, unfazed by the chaos around her.

"Uh, Ms. Granger has a gash on the back of her head, and Mr. Weasley is blind."

"Both caused by spells?"

"Uh, yeah." The commotion around him was starting to get to the wizard, who had always been uncomfortable around big groups of people.

"Okay then. Please take a seat, sir, and we'll notify you when a doctor is available."

"And when will that be?" Lupin asked, exasperated."

The witch looked down at her papers. "In a few hours, sir."

Lupin groaned. "Right, then." He headed back over to Hermione, Ron and Ginny, who had conjured up chairs and were trying to sat seated without getting knocked over by the crowd.

"It'll be a few hours." he informed them, as he too, conjured up a chair and sat down beside Hermione. 

She looked over at him, and offered him a small smile. "Why don't you go, then?" she said, "You're needed elsewhere."

His face took on a look of concern." Are you sure."

"Positive." she replied, still smiling lightly. "Besides, Mrs. Weasley will be here at any moment."

He patted her on the arm, then looked over at the two Weasleys. "Okay then." 

Hermione's face then turned sombre. "Lupin." she asked, just as he stood and his chair disappeared.

"Yes?"

"Promise me you'll find Harry. Promise me that you'll find you did this." 

"I promise." he replied, looking into her bright green eyes. He then turned away, and Disapparated back to the Weasley household, to start his quest for answers...

*Alright. There's another chapter. The summary does fit this story, it'll just take awhile to get to it. 

So, do you like? Tell me if ya do.

Bye for now,

~Aelan*


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